Virtual reality upgrade improves vehicle safety

The Independence features NVIDIA Quadro FX 4000 graphics subsystems, configured in a system-level, parallel-rendering architecture.

Quantum3D has upgraded Ford's VIRtual Test Track EXperiment (VIRTTEX) driving simulator with computing and simulation technologies to help improve vehicle safety.

Ford is testing new, active crash-avoidance technologies, the new frontier in safety, to build on its leadership in crash protection, which includes the most five-star safety-rated vehicles of any automaker in history.

Ford has upgraded the image generator (IG) in its VIRTTEX simulator to Quantum3D's Independence IDX 4000.

Located at Ford's Research and Innovation centre in Dearborn, Michigan, VIRTTEX is the auto industry's only full-motion driving simulator in North America.

Ford Motor's VIRTTEX Simulator is a 7m diameter dome with six hydraulic actuators and six degrees of freedom, enabling the driver to experience a realistic driving simulation.

The simulator is used by Ford engineers to assist in automobile design, safety analysis, performance analysis and human factors research.

The Independence features NVIDIA Quadro FX 4000 graphics subsystems, configured in a system-level, parallel-rendering architecture.

This configuration enables Ford to take advantage of the system's features, including anisotropic filtering for more realistic road surfaces, shader-based rendering for enhanced lighting effects and Boston Dynamics DI-Guy for realistic human simulation.

The system uses open standards, such as the Common IG Interface [CIGI] standard for host interfaces and Gbit Ethernet.

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